THOUSAND OAKS, Calif. - On a sunny St. Patrick's Day afternoon, the Cal Lutheran baseball team swept a doubleheader against Berry (Ga.) at Sparky Anderson Field inside Ullman Stadium. The Kingsmen racked up 12 hits in an 8-3 game one victory before rallying late for a 2-0 win in game two.
After a scoreless first, CLU broke the game open with a six run second inning. With one out, Brad Fullerton singled up the middle to begin a stretch of eight straight Kingsmen reaching base. Cheynne Giles and Trey Saito followed with singles to load the bases and Austin Kay singled to left to drive in the first run of the game. The Violet and Gold continued to add on runs, going station-to-station, as Max Weinstein and Gabe Gunter provided RBI singles and Sinjin Todd drew a walk, all with the bases loaded. CLU added one more, capitalizing on a Vikings error, to take a 6-0 lead.
In the bottom of the fifth inning, Kay led off with a single and promptly stole second before coming around to score on another Vikings error. Gunter made it 8-0 a few batters later with an RBI single to right field.
The Vikings added a run apiece in the sixth, seventh, and eighth innings but the Kingsmen held on for the game one victory.
Kay and Gunter led the Violet and Gold at the plate with three hits while CLU outhit Berry 12-7. Marshall Pautsch (3-1) went 7.2 strong innings on the hill, scattering six hits and allowing three runs while striking out five. Troy Frazier and Miguel Salud combined to pitch 1.1 innings in relief.
The second game of the afternoon featured a pitcher's duel between Nate Wehner and Dylan Beasley. The Kingsmen were held hitless into the seventh inning, until Weston Clark singled through the right side.
It was not until the eighth inning, however, that the Kingsmen would get on the scoreboard. Three singles in a row from Saito, Kay and Weinstein put CLU ahead 1-0, and a crucial RBI double from Alec Iniguez made it 2-0.
Salud sent the Vikings down in order in the ninth to earn the save. Wehner (2-2) went eight shutout innings, scattering seven hits and striking out three.
Cal Lutheran (10-6) continues non-conference action with a single game against Willamette (Ore.) tomorrow, Mar. 18 at 1:00 p.m. inside Ullman Stadium.
Box Score: CLU 8, BC 3
Box Score: CLU 2, BC 0
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